Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Something is not right with this 56 King Seiko

5626 or 5625? Or Matrimony of the two?

I bought this watch through an ebay auction. It was early on when I was still fresh and naive in the affairs of collecting vintage watches.... Well, I am still fresh and naive today..... From the superficial, it looks like a legitimate 5626 King Seiko. 5626 KS is the epitome of automatic King Seiko.

This 5626 KS has a gold capped case measuring 37 mm excluding its crown and with a thickness of 10.5 mm. The lugs are thick and give a distinctive looks to the 56 KS. The lugs are 18 mm apart.

There is a regulatory adjusting screw between the lower lugs. The crown is KS signed as well.

This watch has a monocoque body i.e. the case is of a single piece. To have access to the movement, once must open through the top mineral glass. If you look at the back case, you would notice that this case is actually meant for 5625-7000. 5625 is a date only watch, whereas this is a day-date 5626 and it is clearly stated on its dial.

This watch also missing the gold medallion at its case back. Below is a photo that I found to show how's an original beauty looks like......

Despite the obvious flaws, this is still a pretty much lovely timepiece. The flat white silver dial with applied gold linear hour markers is as classic as any watches can get.

Apart from the gold emblems of Seiko and KS wordings, the dial has a gold window frame at three o'clock position for the watch's day-date functions. On the dial, it is stated this is a high beats automatic watch and with a Daini logo.

This watch has gold dauphine hands highlighted with black lines centrally and a long slim gold sweeping second hand.

This watch is powered by a 25 jewels 5626 movement beating at 28,800bph. The 56xx calibre was made by the Suwa branch of Seiko.

When I look at this watch, I see functionality and simplicity. Nothing exaggerated.... This is a timeless beauty with a faded makeup and with slightly noticeable wrinkles......